The Greatest Gift of All
by sbmcneil
Summary: Harry and Ginny receive some news from St. Mungo's. Written for the SIYE - I'm Having Your Baby challenge.


Ginny Potter finished her run and stretched as she looked around the park where she usually ran. She loved this park and proximity to the park was actually a factor when she and Harry had chosen their house. In addition to the nice running path, there was a large playground which was close to where Ginny usually ended her run.

Today was no different from any other summer day, there were several groups of children playing under the watchful eyes of their mums on the playground equipment. Ginny watched the children playing wistfully. Visions of black haired boys and red haired girls with green eyes swam in front of her. There was a time almost two months ago at the end of last season, when Ginny thought she was pregnant. She had even gone to St. Mungo's to get tested, but to her disappointment she was not pregnant.

Sighing, Ginny headed home. She had promised her mother she would come over to tea this afternoon.

* * *

><p>The fluttering of wings caused Harry to look up from the file he was reviewing. To his surprise, it was an actually owl, not a memo as he expected.<p>

"Who are you looking for?" He asked as he reached for the folded parchment attached to the rather regal looking owl's leg.

The parchment simply read, "Potter."

Harry removed the parchment and watched the bird fly off in confusion. He flipped over the parchment and noticed the seal from St. Mungo's Hospital. He frowned as he broke the seal. His frown disappeared as he read the note.

_Dear Mr. and Mrs. Potter,_

_I sincerely apologize for the confusion, but when Mrs. Potter was here at the end of May somehow there was a mix up in the tests. Mrs. Potter's pregnancy test was not negative as we had previously reported. _

_Congratulations! You are expecting a baby and based on the information in our files, your due date should be around January 16. Please contact us to make an appointment as soon as possible._

_Again, my apologies for the confusion._

_Healer Vesta Symthe_

Harry read the note through twice, the second time a big smile broke out on his face. He remembered how disappointed they had been when she had been told she was not pregnant. He sat at his desk for a minute before grabbing a piece of parchment and scrawled a note to Head Auror Gawain Robards. He needed to get home and make some plans.

* * *

><p>After showering and changing into a light yellow sundress, Ginny Apparated to the Burrow. She smiled when she saw her niece, Victoire, playing in the garden with her kitten, Shadow.<p>

"Torie!"

"Aunt Ginny!"

Victoire ran across the yard. Ginny knelt down as her three year old niece threw herself into her aunt's waiting arms. Laughing, Ginny peppered the little girl with kisses.

"How's my best girl?" Ginny asked.

"Great! I maked biscuits with Nana. I wanted Dommie to help, but she just sleeped so me and Teddy played with my kitten, but Teddy and his Nana had to go home so it's just me and my kitten now. Aunt MiMi is here, but she doesn't like to play so much. Did you come to play with me, Aunt Ginny?"

Ginny laughed and tucked a strand of strawberry blond hair behind Torie's ear. "Wow! It sounds like you've had a great day. What is Aunt MiMi doing?"

"Talking to Nana," Torie answered, her blue eyes shining as she picked up Shadow. "Will you push me on the swing?"

"Of course, sweetie."

Together, the pair made their way over to the swing that hung from the largest oak tree at the edge of the garden. Ginny's father had first hung the simple rope swing when Bill was a baby. Bill and Harry had renewed the charms on it four years earlier when Teddy was old enough to swing.

From the swing, Ginny could look through the large kitchen window. She could see Hermione in the kitchen helping to prepare tea. She laughed inwardly every time she heard one of the kids call Hermione 'Aunt MiMi.' Teddy had started it when he was little as he couldn't say Hermione. Harry had thought it was hysterical and had encouraged first Teddy and then Torie to call her that. Needless to say, Hermione hated it. She kept trying to get the kids to say her name properly, but they persisted in calling her 'Aunt MiMi.'

Torie and Ginny were teaching Shadow to chase the garden gnomes when Molly Weasley called them into have tea.

The pair raced laughing into the Burrow with Ginny losing dramatically to her young niece. Ginny greeted her mother and three of her sisters-in-law – Fleur, Hermione, and Audrey. Hermione was sharing pictures of her and Ron's honeymoon trip to Southern Spain with the other women. Baby Dominique, Fleur and Bill's second daughter, was sleeping quietly in the cradle near the kitchen fireplace.

As Ginny walked over to the cradle to admire Dominique, she heard Torie saying proudly to Fleur, "Mummy did you see that? I beated Aunt Ginny."

"I did, lovey," Fleur said with a smile. "Good job."

Molly smothered a laugh and smiled at her granddaughter, setting her up with some biscuits and tea. "Did you have fun in the garden, love?"

Torie nodded enthusiastically, "Yes, I played with Aunt Ginny. Her and Uncle Harry know how to play the bestest."

The women all laughed. Harry was definitely Teddy and Torie's favorite. He never missed a chance to play with them. He was even known to take random days off from work and take both children off to Muggle London to see the zoo or the aquarium or whatever fun thing he had thought of for that day.

Turning to her aunt, Torie asked, "Is Uncle Harry coming to play?"

"Not today, sweetie," Ginny answered. "Uncle Harry is working."

Leaning over to kiss the beautiful, sleeping baby in the cradle, Ginny joined the other women at the table. Looking at the array of food her mother had prepared, Ginny helped herself to some scones, strawberry jam, and clotted cream. Molly looked in askance at the amount of food on her daughter's plate.

"Are you hungry, dear?"

Ginny looked up and was surprised to find everyone watching her. Setting her knife down she said, "Actually, yes I am. I didn't feel that great this morning, so I didn't eat much. I've really had a craving for clotted cream the past few days."

* * *

><p>When Harry arrived home, he was surprised that the house was quiet and dark. He found Ginny in the sitting room, sound asleep on the couch. He knelt down next to her, watching her sleep for a minute. She was so beautiful, her glorious red hair covered part of her face and the rest fanned out on the couch cushion behind her. Even after three years of marriage, he still couldn't believe that he was lucky enough to be married to her.<p>

He brushed her hair back off of her face and kissed her softly on the cheek. Her warm, chocolate brown eyes slowly fluttered open. She smiled when she saw him kneeling by her. Reaching out she touched his cheek.

"Hi, love," She said as she kissed him. "What are you doing home so early?"

Harry smiled softly, "It actually not really that early. It's almost six."

Ginny sat up and looked around. "I'm sorry, love. I spent the afternoon playing with Torie and I was really tired."

"That's okay," Harry moved to sit on the couch next to her. "I was able to get the weekend off and we are going on a little trip."

"Really?" Ginny's eyes sparkled. She loved getting away with Harry, he always made traveling so much fun. "Where are we going?"

He shook his head smiling, "It's a surprise. I've already packed and I put together a few things for you. If you want, we can head out tonight."

Thirty minutes later, Ginny was ready to leave. Harry grabbed their bags and wrapping his arms around her waist, he activated the Portkey.

Ginny looked around curiously when they landed. She smiled when she recognized the stretch of beach at Normandy where they had spent their honeymoon. It had become one of their favorite vacation spots and they returned there often.

Harry pushed the sofa back towards the walls and spread a soft, emerald green blanket on the floor in front of the fireplace and conjured up half a dozen large fluffy yellow pillows and scattered them on the floor. He lit a dozen candles that he set to floating around the room. He placed the bouquets of pink, red, and white roses that he'd bought around the edges of the floor.

Opening the basket Kreacher had prepared for him, Harry pulled out a meal made up of all of Ginny's favorites – chicken and ham pie, boiled potatoes, salad, and homemade rolls. For dessert there was Ginny's favorite – Strawberry shortcake.

As he finished setting up the meal, he heard Ginny gasp behind him. He turned to see her standing in the doorway.

"What is all of this?" she asked.

"Come here, love," He replied, beckoning her over to the area he had set up.

Ginny sat down on the blanket and settled back against one of the pillows. Harry sat down next to her and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her on the cheek.

"This is for you, my love," He said as he handed her a small box.

Ginny looked at him in curiosity before she leaned back into his arms and opened the box. It was a small frame that contained the note from St. Mungo's. She read the note through twice before she turned to look at him.

With tears shimmering in her eyes, she asked, "Is this real?"

Harry nodded. "I talked to Healer Symthe and she confirmed that you are pregnant. It's real, baby."

He felt his own tears well up in his eyes at the look of absolute joy that crossed her face. Throwing her arms around him, Ginny buried her face in his neck, "I'm pregnant."

She kissed him gently and softly before pulling away, "We are having a baby."

Grabbing his hand, she took their entwined hands and placed them on her belly. She felt a tear hit her shoulder and turned to look at her husband. He blushed slightly as he wiped his eyes with his free hand. "I'm sorry. I just…I never thought this would happen. You're having my baby. You're going to be a mum and I'm going to be a dad."

He smiled at her, "I thought when you agreed to marry me it was the greatest gift of all, but now I realize that us being here – together and in love, starting a family…that truly is the greatest gift of all."

Ginny kissed him again this time a bit more passionately. "I love you."

"I love you." He kissed her back and started trailing kissed down her neck. Ginny moved so she was leaning back against the pillows. Lifting her shirt, he placed gentle and reverent kisses on her flat and toned stomach. "I can't wait to see your belly getting big. I can't imagine you being more beautiful than you are right now, but somehow I think you will be even more incredibly beautiful."

Ginny pulled him up and kissed him deeply. "Show me how much you love me." She whispered.

After they made love, they curled up in more blankets that Harry conjured up for them and ate the feast Kreacher had prepared for them.

With a flick of his wand, Harry summoned several other wrapped boxes from the basket. Ginny laughed, "Harry, what have you done?"

"I just wanted to get you a few gifts," Harry said as she snuggled into his arms.

She picked up the largest gift and to her surprise, it was a book – _What to Expect When you are Expecting: The Magical Edition_. He caught the look on her face and explained, "One of the witches at work swore by this when she was pregnant. I figured since I don't know anything about pregnant witches and you've never been pregnant before it would come in handy."

Ginny set it aside for a minute and opened one of the smaller gifts. It was a garnet and diamond bracelet. "Merlin, Harry. This is beautiful."

Harry helped her put in on and explained, "I asked the clerk what January's birthstone was and that's how I picked it."

"Harry, I don't even know what to say. This is amazing," Ginny said as she admired her new bracelet in the firelight.

Laughing, he kissed her on the top of the head and handed her the last box. She opened it and laughed at the little Quidditch onesie in Gryffindor colors. It read – _Future Gryffindor Player._

She settled back into his arms and picked up the book. Together they flipped through the book.

Morning found the young couple asleep in each other's arms. They had stayed up late reading the book, talking and making love long into the night.

Ginny woke up first. She rolled over and kissed her husband on cheek. She pulled out of his arms and quickly showered and changed for the day. Harry wandered into the kitchen dressed only in a pair of jeans when she started cooking bacon and eggs. Wrapping his arms around her he gave her a lingering kiss.

"Good morning, love. Do you need help?" He asked.

"No, I've got this under control." She replied.

He sat at the table and grabbed a cup of coffee. They laughed and flirted through breakfast. Harry sent the dirty dishes to the sink with a wave of his wand.

Together they walked down to the beach, hand in hand. As they walked along the water's edge, Ginny looked over at Harry. "I've been thinking. I am going to see Gwenog when we get back. I know some people play while they are pregnant, but I don't want to. I'm done playing Quidditch. I still love the game, but I'm done playing."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked.

"Yes, I'm positive," Ginny replied. She pulled him down to sit in the sand. "I am just so excited, I don't know what I want to do first."

"What do you want to do?" He asked, looking around he discretely conjured up a beach blanket for them to sit on.

Ginny leaned back against him. "Well, we will need to clean out the little room on the second floor for the baby. I want to decorate it with jungle animals. When Fleur was pregnant with Dominique, I went shopping with her and there was the cutest jungle animal set."

"Jungle animals, that sounds good." Harry said. "What color do you want the walls?"

She played with his hair as she considered the question. "How about yellow? I think a baby's room should be a bright cheerful color."

Turning in his arms she said, "What about names?"

He looked out over the water while he thought about it. Honestly as soon as he'd found out she was pregnant, one name had popped into his head. "I was thinking for a boy, maybe we could name him James."

"James. James Potter," Ginny smiled. "I think that would be perfect. How about Sirius for a middle name? Those two names just seem like they should go together."

Harry couldn't speak for a moment as he felt emotion well up in him. "That would be…I don't even know what to say. I would love to name our son, James Sirius."

They sat in silence for a few moments before she said, "So what about girls' names? I know that Weasleys traditionally have boys, but Bill has two girls so anything is possible."

She watched the emotions play over his face as he said, "A girl? That would be brilliant. A beautiful red haired baby girl."

He looked at her hopefully, "Lily? I know it's probably not very fair to name them after my parents, but…I'd like to honor them some way."

"Lily?" Ginny considered the name. "How about Lily Rose?"

A goofy smile lit up his face. "That would be perfect."

He planted a kiss on her cheek. "Come on let's head back to the beach house."

As he reached out a hand for her, he said. "I love you, Ginny."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug. "I love you, I'm so excited that I'm having your baby."


End file.
